Big Finish have announced a special release of B7 Media’s acclaimed dramatisation of Ray Bradbury’s The Martian Chronicles this December.

The new drama, originally broadcast on BBC Radio 4, stars Derek Jacobi (Last Tango in Halifax, I, Claudius, Doctor Who: Utopia) and Hayley Atwell (Marvel’s Agent Carter, The Pillars of the Earth, Doctor Who: Blood of the Daleks) as the leaders of an expedition to Mars, tasked with a secret mission.

When the first expedition to Mars mysteriously disappears, Earth sends a second to find out what happened. But the real mission is classified. And only Captain Wilder knows the truth.

Spender, an anthropologist on Wilder’s crew, attempts to prevent the colonisation that she believes will eradicate the last of an ancient people living on Mars. But to what lengths will she go?

As the honourable but duty-bound Captain Wilder tracks the now rogue Spender into the Martian mountains, the future of this ancient planet is at stake. Meanwhile, Earth itself teeters on the brink of its own global catastrophe as the very survival of humanity hangs in the balance.

The adaptation recently won the Silver Award for Best Drama Special at the 2015 New York Festivals International Radio Program Awards. Alistair Lock was also nominated for Best Sound Designer at the 2014 Radio Production Awards. The release was produced by Patrick Chapman and directed by Andrew Mark Sewell who said

‘Over the years Big Finish has become synonymous with the very best in fantasy and science fiction audio drama, ‘and we’re delighted that they’ll be releasing our award-winning dramatisation of Ray Bradbury’s classic fable of Martian colonisation.’

Big Finish Executive Producer Jason Haigh-Ellery said

“The Martian Chronicles is a legendary sci-fi book, which has been turned into a fantastic award winning production by Andrew and his team at B7 Media — I’m delighted that Big Finish will be able to bring this classic story to a wider audience around the world”.

The Martian Chronicles, will be released in December and is available to pre-order now. The full-cast includes Derek Jacobi, Hayley Atwell, Anna Madeley, Mark Lewis Jones, John Altman, Zoe Tapper, Jonathan Rhodes, Dean Harris, Ryan Sewell, Rachael Naylor, Jacob James, Robert Lock, Mellissa Aston-Munslow and Owen Sewell